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I am responsible for about 25 Bard 1-ton units scattered in equipment shelters all over our network. We also have a few 3-ton units in the same Bard model series.

They're not terrible, but they have their limitations in the 1-ton size.

1. Zero fan speed adjustment, period. It's a single speed PSC blower.
2. Poor blower motor durability. They typically last us about 5 years. They're not expensive or terribly hard to replace, but they are totally oddball. Not only are they unusually small, but they mount in an unusual way, too. No one will ever have one in stock on the truck or down at the local supply house. You order them from Bard.
3. No heat pump option. Your only choice is which heat strip you want (3 kw or 5 kw).
4. The one-piece unit hangs on the wall. That means that the compressor vibration gets transmitted into the wall. It's not terrible, but it's there.

Bard's larger units use ordinary multi-speed PSC blower motors like you find in any other residential application. They also can be had as heat pumps.

With a mini-split, you can have better efficiency, user-selectable indoor fan speed, humidity control, heat pump heating, and they are super quiet indoors and out.

I see no reason to be afraid of mini-splits. Outside of North America, they are by far the most common way residential A/C is done. They are fully engineered and technologically very sophisticated.